Six: Flight Lieutenant F. W. Carryer, 30 Squadron, Royal Air Force, late Army Service...

Six: Flight Lieutenant F. W. Carryer, 30 Squadron, Royal Air Force, late Army Service Corps, one of a handful of pilots to qualify for the General Service Medal 1918-62 with ‘S. Persia’ clasp

1914-15 Star (M2-046022 Pte F. W. Carryer. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. F. W. Carryer. R.A.F.); General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, S. Persia, Kurdistan (Lieut. F. W. Carryer. R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted on card for display, light contact marks overall, very fine (6) (6) £2,000-£2,400

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Approximately 30 General Service Medals for ‘S. Persia’ were awarded to Royal Air Force personnel, just five aircraft of No. 30 Squadron being present in the qualifying period November 1918 to June 1919.

Frederick William Carryer was born in December 1892, and was a resident of St. Johns Wood, London immediately after the Great War. He initially served with the Army Service Corps in the French theatre of war from 23 March 1915. Carryer advanced to Acting Sergeant, before transferring as a Cadet under instruction with the Royal Flying Corps in Egypt, 15 October 1917. He advanced to Second Lieutenant in December 1917, and was posted as a pilot for operational flying with 30 Squadron in the Middle East in April 1918.

The next part of Carryer’s service is described in detail by the article A Death in South Persia by Wing Commander J. Routledge:

‘If the personnel of No. 30 Squadron, Royal Air Force believed that the signing of an armistice between the British and Turkish Governments as from 12 noon on October 31, 1918, meant that for the first time in four years they could relax, they were in for a shock. The squadron had been on active service in Egypt and Mesopotamia ever since its formation; its career had been a strenuous one and its percentage of casualties high.

However, the cessation of hostilities against the Turks found time for new roles in Kurdistan and Northern Persia. Numerous landing grounds were selected in outlying parts of the country and progress was made in opening up the region for aviation. To their surprise, on Christmas Day 1918, orders were received for more operational work in the area of Bushire in South Persia, where a frontier war was in progress against the Qashqais and other tribes.

The tribesmen to be subdued were nomadic brigands who had been giving trouble for some time, and the country of Fars was more or less a lawless state. In May 1918, Saulat, the chief of the Qashqais, had declared war against the British and the South Persian Rifles, believed to be at the instigation of German agents. The Qashqais were good fighters, and with some 30,000-45,000 men armed with modern rifles, were a formidable force. Autumn 1918 had seen the landing of Major-General J. A. Douglas’s division in Bushire with the aim to establish law and order, but the wild and mountainous country with practically no roads made for very difficult campaigning. It was felt that the R.A.F. might be the solution for bringing the operations to a speedier end.

Thus it was that Captain Allen Percy Adams was ordered to take ‘C’ flight [including Carryer] to Bushire at the beginning of January 1919. Adams had only recently been advanced to the rank of Captain on the departure to England of the previous flight commander. The award of a Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic services with 30 Squadron had been announced on October 31, 1918 (subsequently gazetted January 1, 1919). He had twice saved downed colleagues by landing in the face of advancing Turkish forces and carrying out rescues in the most hazardous circumstances. Having been with the squadron from August 1917 his award and shortly following promotion were welcomed heartily by his fellows.

Six machines [including Carryer] flew to Bushire at the beginning of the month and the transport was sent by sea. The country had never been flown over before. It consisted of a sea of rugged snow-clad mountain ranges running up to 11,000 feet with no forced landing grounds. Operations by the R.A.F. commenced on January 10 and consisted of reconnaissances and attacks with bombs and machine-guns on enemy encampments. Very few commissioned observers remained and N.C.O.s and men were used as gunners, a duty for which they volunteered with keenness.

The crews did not have it all their own way and a number of aircraft were hit by rifle fire. For example, two machines were badly damaged on February 17, 1919 in a bombing at Nasiriyeh emphasising the low levels required to be flown and the accuracy of the tribesmen’s shooting.’

Further examples are provided in the History of No. 30 Squadron, by Major J. Everidge:

‘27th January 1919. On the 27th, five machines bombed Robatak. On arrival the machines were fired on by tribesmen from the village. Several large tents were seen pitched in the serais of the town. Twenty-nine Coopers 20-lb bombs were dropped, 17 direct hits being obtained in the village, the inhabitants ran out of the village and took cover in neighbouring hills and nullahs. Another raid on Robatak was made on the 28th, 36 bombs being dropped and many O.K.’s scored. The tents had gone and men were seen leaving the village long before any bombs were dropped. A convoy of camels and donkeys thought to be that of Nasir Diwan was found just leaving the village; this was attacked by machine guns and bombs with good effect. Information has been received that Nasir Diwan’s son was very badly wounded during the first bomb raid. Pilots on each occasion were Major Everidge, Capt. Adams, Lieuts. Hawkins, Maxwell and Carryer.’

Routledge continues:

‘The operations were a typical example of aircraft co-operation in mountain warfare and the results were entirely successful. The tribesmen sought peace after a few weeks when they discovered that no place was inaccessible to 30 Squadron’s aircraft. On March 3, Saulat was allowed to come in under a safe conduct and meet with the Chief Political Officer to discuss terms of surrender. The air war was over - or was it?

With the run-down of his flight having started, Captain Adams on his own flew a sortie to reconnoitre Khun and the surrounding countryside where a party of hostile tribesmen had been reported. His single-seater Martinsyde Scout was heavily fired on. Later that day, he returned with Lieutenants F. W. Carryer and S. Bull, with Lieutenant E. D. G. Hughes (the squadron’s Recording Officer) and 1st Class Air Mechanic Judge respectively as air gunners in R.E.8’s, and bombed the village. Tragically Captain Adams, whilst machine-gunning at low level, was seen to crash badly. With Lieutenant Carryer providing some cover, Lieutenant Bull without hesitation went down to help and touched the ground 12 yards from Adam’s aircraft. However, it proved impossible to land and his machine was badly shot about. I wonder what poor Judge in the back seat thought about these heroics! For this action, Lieutenant Sydney Bull was awarded an immediate D.F.C. by the G.O.C. British Army in Mesopotamia, subsequently confirmed by the King and announced in the London Gazette on July 15, 1919. The citation is worth repeating:

‘Whilst engaged in bombing and machine-gunning hostile tribesmen at Khun, near Bushire, on 6 March, 1919, he saw a brother officer had been shot down. Hoping that he might be alive, he attempted to land on absolutely unsafe ground at very close range fire from the enemy, but after touching the ground twelve yards from the crashed machine he saw at once that no hope could be entertained that the occupant was alive, by reason of the condition of the wreck, and he was accordingly compelled to abandon further action. The attempt at rescue involved much risk, as ...